Muscle tension and tightness happens to every one of us at one time or another! Whether you are doing household chores or mental work (such as working from home), your muscles are continuously at work. Until you take proper rest, these muscles are under a lot of stress. However, relaxation doesn’t always happen when you lead a busy life. You need to take regular breaks in between your work to just relax. People who are workaholics might think that taking breaks is a waste of time. But they’re wrong. Relaxing your mind and body is a way to replenish lost energy, refresh your mind, and get back lost enthusiasm. There are various ways in which you can relax your tightened muscles. Let’s check out some of the best ways to relax your muscles at home…
#1 Regularly Stretching Your Body Parts (Arms And Legs):
When stress builds upon the muscles, they become stiff which in turn reduces the range of motion of your body parts. Therefore, you need to perform stretches in order to relax muscles and reduce tension. Stretching is the best way to relax your muscles.
If you wish to relax your back muscles, perform a “cobra” pose as done in yoga. This will relieve your muscle tension immediately. Don’t, however, push yourself to the point of pain. Just perform gentle stretching exercises daily and you should easily get into the habit. Stretching is also beneficial in releasing built-up toxins in the muscles and helps improve your range of motion.
#2 Massaging Your Body Parts:
Massaging your body parts is another effective way of reducing stiffness in the muscles. To make it more effective, you can make use of essential oils. Some of the most popular essential oils that experts recommend are peppermint and lemongrass oil. These are considered to be the two most effective essential oils for relaxing muscle tightness. Chiropractors, as well as physiotherapists, suggest that these oils reduce inflammation, provide relief from pain, and also provide a cooling effect to the body.
#3 Focus On Deep Breathing:
Whenever you are stressed your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. It is an involuntary thing and this shallow and rapid breathing increases tension on your muscles. So, in between your work, take micro-breaks and perform deep breathing exercises for about 10 to 15 minutes. You should suddenly feel your tension reducing and the tightness of the muscles going away.
Here is a list of the different muscle groups and the type of stretching you need to perform to relax the respective muscles:
Summary:
Most of the time you might experience an involuntary tightness in your muscles. It can happen in any part of the body and this tightness or swelling in the muscles is called a muscle spasm. It can happen for numerous reasons such as sitting in the same position for a long time… or while running or exercising. You might have come across pregnant women who are prone to it due to their increasing body weight. But– you need not worry as you can relax your sore muscles at home by embracing stretching and other home remedies.